Railway journal box lubricant distributor



Jan. 5, 1965 J. J. HENNESSY, JR

RAILWAY JOURNAL BOX LUBRICANT DISTRIBUTOR Filed May 21. 1962 INVENTOR.

United States Patent 3,164,424 RAILWAY JOURNAL BDX LUBRICANT DISTRIBUTUR James J. Hennessy, Jr., Chambersburg, Pa., assignor to 'Hennessy Lubricator Co., Inc., Chambersburg, Pa., a

corporation of Delaware Filed May 21, 1962, Ser. No. 196,402 2 Claims. (Cl. 308-243) The invention relates to railway axle journal box pads for distributing oil from the sump, formed by the bottom of the box, to the journal.

Among the objects of the invention are to expedite the flow of oil from the sump to the journal, to render the pad easier to handle during manufacture and particularly during application to and removal from the axle box, and to maintain contact between the pad and the journal during extended use of the pad.

In the accompanying drawing illustrating a selected embodiment of the invention:

FIG. 1 is a top view of the pad.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the pad.

FIG. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section on lines 3- of FIGS. 1 and 4.

FIG. 4 is a transverse vertical section on line 44 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 shows the pad installed in an axle box.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a strip of material which is used to form the pad wall structure.

In some respects the invention is an improvement upon the structure described and claimed in an earlier application by the same inventor filed December 9, 1960, Serial No. 75,879, and comprises a series of open end compartments formed by an elongated strip of woven fabric, there being expandable cushions in the compartments to hold them distended and the fabric including loose tufted yarn aeas forming the exterior faces of the compartment walls and facilitating the absorption and distribution of oil. The body of the pad is formed by an initially elongated woven fabric strip 7 (FIG. 6) of canvas or similar material having spaced zones 12, 13 and 14 formed of loose tufted yarn woven into the fabric, there being intermediate untufted areas 15 which are relatively smooth, thin and pliable.

Strip 7 is folded with parts stitched or otherwise secured together to form a plurality of compartments into which are inserted compressible cores 8, 9. The compartments are provided by folding double the untufted areas intermediate the tufted zones, as indicated at 16, and folding the strip intermediate folds 16 into inverted U contours 18 as best shown in FIGS. 4, 5. One end tufted portion 14 of the strip forms the lower part of the left hand upright wall of the pad and the complete bottom wall of the pad, also the upright right hand side wall of the pad and the top wall of the right hand compartment. The successive untufted areas 15 form the upright intermediate walls of the pad. The short tufted areas 13 form the tops of the two intermediate compartments. The relatively longer tufted areas 12 form the tops and upper outer side walls of the next two compartments and the top and upper outer side wall of the left hand compartment. The ends of strip 7 are stitched together and form a seam 19.

Each doubled fold 16 is intermediate two tufted zones and is stitched at 20 to the pad bottom wall. The opposing top portions of each untufted zone 15 are riveted or tacked together at intervals at 21. This arrangement provides the pad with a continuous tufted lower wall, a substantially continuous tufted upper wall having joints between successive compartments, and continuous tufted upright short and longer side walls.

After the compartments have been completed by the stitching at 19 and tacking at 20, 21, cores 8, 9 of rubber- 3,164,424 Patented Jan. 5, 1965 like material are inserted into the compartments and hold their sides upright as shown in the drawings. Then rivets or burrs are applied as shown at 22 to retain. the cores in place.

The upright walls formed by untufted areas 15 reduce the distance between the compartments and facilitate the flow of oil from the bottom of the pad to journal 23 because there is less material for the oil to permeate in its capillary movement from the bottom to the top of the pad. The upright side walls of the pad are tuftedbecause they rely wholly upon capillary attraction through the yarn to feed the oil. The absence of tufted yarn along the intermediate upright walls makes it easier to handle and stitch the pad during assembly and facilitates conforming the pad to the under face of the journal.

When the pad is applied to a journal box 25 (FIG. 5) the pad is compresssed transversely since it is wider than the distance between the opposite lower portions of the journal box curved bottom wall. Such compression tends to concave the bottom of the pad upwardly and to convex the top of the pad upwardly, assuring maximum pressure of the pad against the lowermost part of the journal which is closest to the oil level. The resiliency of the compressed pad results in maintaining a thrust of the pad top surface against the journal throughout an extended period of use of the pad and contributes to the effective feeding of oil to the journal. Also, this causes the outer side pad sections 8, and (to a lesser degree) the adjacent sections 9, to flare out against the box wall and into the functioning position shown in FIG. 5, which prevents the pad from shifting due to either impact or acceleration or the friction between the journal and top of the pad.

With the tufted yarn areas 12, 13, 14 of sheet 7 spaced apart as shown, the intermediate upright wall sections are relatively thin and accommodate compartment fillers of greater thickness than could be accommodated otherwise without increasing the over-all width of the pad. This gives the pad greater resiliency, permitting it to absorb more oil.

Loops 29 of fabric tape are secured to the cover sheet 7 and are grasped by a workman to pull the pad from a box when the pad is to be cleaned or replaced. A marker 31 on the tape indicates the preferred manner of installing the pad but the pad will distribute oil to the journal effectively even though it be reversed. The shorter side compartments insure sufficient clearance for flat back bearings, which come down on the sides of the journal farther than the standard bearing, and for axle stops when present, and make it easier to apply and remove the pad to and from the journal box when flat back bearings or axle stops S are present.

Variations in the relative areas of the tufted and untufted areas of. the initial material strip and other changes in construction may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and the exclusive use of those modifications coming within the scope of the claims is contemplated.

What is claimed is:

1. A railway journal lubricator pad comprising an elongated strip of woven fabric with spaced zones of loosely tufted yarn loops projecting from one face of the fabric, the strip including sections of unequal length between said zones, individual sections being doubled along lines extending transversely of the strip intermediate the ends of the section and the doubled sections being disposed upright, means securing the ends of adjacent doubled sections together at points spaced from their folds to form upright passageways between walls defining adjacent compartments of different heights across the pad, there being shorter compartments at opposite sides of the pad and a plurality of taller compartments and adjacent passageways intermediate said shorter compartments, all

a; of said compartments being provided with individual cores of elastic material rectangular in vertical cross section and varying in height to fit within respective compartments and distend the same and cooperating with said means to maintain compartment walls between the cores contiguousrfor their full height, said strip having a section extending continuously horizontally across the bottom of all of said compartments and secured to said folds and forming the bottom Wall of the pad, the tufted zones of the strip facing upwardly, downwardly and outwardly of the pad. 2. A railway journal lubricator pad comprising a pinrality of distortable cores of rubber-like material and a sheet of fabric folded to form a compartment at each side of the pad and a plurality of compartments between said side compartments said compartments receiving individual cores and being disposed side by side across the pad, the widths of the cores and compartments being less than their heights and the 'side cores and compartments being shorter than the intermediate cores and compart: merits, the pad having a continuously fiat bottom from side to side of the pad formed by a section length of the fabric, the top or the pad being offset downwardly at each side of the pad over the shorter cores and compartments, the portions of said fabric facing outwardly of the pad having a loose tufted yarn cover and the doubled portions of said fabric being untufted and secured together adjacent the top and bottom of the pad and forming narrow upright passageways between adjacent cores for the fuii height of the same.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,017,884 Armstrong Oct. 22, 1935 2,807,803 Rockwell Sept. 24, 1957 2,992,051 Murray July 11, 1961 3,020,103 Harkenrider Feb. 16, 1962 

1. A RAILWAY JOURNAL LUBRICATOR PAD COMPRISING AN ELONGATED STRIP OF WOVEN FABRIC WITH SPACED ZONES OF LOOSELY TUFTED YARN LOOPS PROJECTING FROM ONE FACE OF THE FABRIC, THE STRIP INCLUDING SECTIONS OF UNEQUAL LENGTH BETWEEN SAID ZONES, INDIVIDUAL SECTIONS BEING DOUBLED ALONG LINES EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF THE STRIP INTERMEDIATE THE ENDS OF THE SECTION AND THE DOUBLED SECTIONS BEING DISPOSED UPRIGHT, MEANS SECURING THE ENDS OF ADJACENT DOUBLED SECTIONS TOGETHER AT POINTS SPACED FROM THEIR FOLDS TO FORM UPRIGHT PASSAGEWAYS BETWEEN WALL DEFINING ADJACENT COMPARTMENTS OF DIFFERENT HEIGHT ACROSS THE PAD, THERE BEING SHORTER COMPARTMENTS AT OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE PAD AND A PLURALITY OF TALLER COMPARTMENTS AND ADJACENT PASSAGEWAYS INTERMEDIATE SAID SHORTER COMPARTMENTS, ALL OF SAID COMPARTMENTS BEING PROVIDED WITH INDIVIDUAL CORES OF ELASTIC MATERIAL RECTANGULAR IN VERTICAL CROSS SECTION AND VARYING IN HEIGHT TO FIT WITHIN RESPECTIVE COMPARTMENTS AND DISTENED THE SAME AND COOPERATING WITH SAID MEANS TO MAINTAIN COMPARTMENT WALLS BETWEEN THE CORES CONTIGUOUS FOR THEIR FULL HEIGHT, SAID STRIP HAVING A SECTION EXTENDING CONTINUOUSLY HORIZONTALLY ACROSS THE BOTTOM OF ALL OF SAID COMPARTMENTS AND SECURED TO SAID FOLDS AND FORMING THE BOTTOM WALL OF THE PAD, THE TUFTED ZONES OF THE STRIP FACING UPWARDLY, DOWNWARDLY AND OUTWARDLY OF THE PAD. 